Premier League Fixtures
Two Doubles Confirmed And One Postponed
As alluded to in my original post the potential double fixtures in gameweek 24 of the FPL game relied on teams making it through this weekends FA Cup fixtures unscathed (and by that I mean without the added hassle of the unwanted replays).
Two fixtures have managed to keep themselves on our fantasy calendars and are now set in stone while one has unfortunately fallen by the wayside. Let’s begin with the fixture we need now forget, for the time being at least.
West Ham were due to host Wolverhampton Wanderers on Tuesday February 2nd, but this will be no more as Wolves will be busy in their second attempt to beat Neil Warnock’s Crystal Palace outfit.
The fixtures that are now definitely going ahead will be Portsmouth’s trip to Craven Cottage to face Fulham, and when Chelsea make the journey to face Hull at the KC Stadium in the same midweek period…
Read more...Double Gameweeks – The Planning Starts Here
Just like the snow that created the original backlog, rescheduled Premier League fixtures have been coming at us thick and fast over the past few days. If you’ve been tracking Greek Fan’s fantastic twitter service you may have been keeping up with things, but just in case you got lost in the fixture flurry, here’s the skinny on a whole wave potential double gameweeks in our scope.
In the long-term, Wigan will be hosting Aston Villa in gameweek 30 and Stoke will make a visit to Brian Laws’ Burnley side up at Turf Moor in gameweek 29. We will digest those at a later date though, right let’s delve a little deeper into are those games added to the more immediate gameweek 24.
Chelsea have announced that they will be heading to the KC Stadium to face Hull at the second time of asking, Portsmouth will visit the big smoke to have a crack at Fulham and, as already alluded to in my last fixture update, West Ham will invite Wolves to Upton Park.
These three fixtures all come with a caveat though, and that is the FA Cup. If any of Chelsea, Wolves, Fulham or Portsmouth (Hull & West Ham have already been knocked out) draw their fourth round fixture this coming weekend, these rescheduled fixtures will be once again wiped from the slate to allow for the replay to take place. So those of you hovering over the transfer button, be patient. On a positive note, it at least gives us time to contemplate our options with the double gameweek teams. There’s no better time than the present to start doing that…
Read more...The Fixture Pile Up Delivers More Double Options
In case you missed it, the Liverpool vs Spurs clash has now also been dropped into this current gameweek to add to the previously discussed Arsenal vs Bolton fixture. My estimations were off on this one – apparently when Harry Redknapp says “a couple of weeks” he meant only next Wednesday. Liverpool will now host Tottenham on January 20th.
While that game drops into our immediate thoughts, yesterday’s other fixture announcement has the West Ham vs Wolves game pencilled in for February 2nd – slotting it into gameweek 24. With so much to consider right now, we can shelve this one in our busy minds, particularly as the new date could change should Wolves face an FA Cup replay in the fourth round tie with Palace.
Don’t give that another thought. Let’s focus instead on Liverpool and Spurs who now present us with an invigorated menu of fantasy options to consider…
Read more...Arsenal vs Bolton Rescheduled… For This Week
Arsenal have just announced that their recently canceled fixture at home to Bolton (ruining the dreams of many Arshavin double gameweek captains) has been rescheduled.
However, what really puts the cat amongst the pigeons is that the game is due to be played a week from tomorrow. That is slap bang in the middle of the upcoming gameweek 22. Brace yourselves then, as we try to get to grips with what this all means…
Read more...Wigan Join The Fixture Catch-Up
Well this was a little weird, we just had a Premier League sunday without a Dugout Discussion, strange times. At least Sky let you all take in the mighty Leicester City instead. Oh how he jokes…
Anyway, amongst all the hubbub of the weather and all games being postponed left, right and centre, one bit of news may have crept through the wires that some of you didn’t pick up on, so I thought I’d bring it up to light. A couple of days ago Wigan rescheduled their fixture to host Bolton (the first game to fall foul of the weather this season) for Tuesday February 16th.
That now means that both the Latics and the Trotters are set to have a double gameweek alongside the already reported Stoke and Manchester City tie in gameweek 26…
Read more...Snow Joke – Latest Weather Reports
As the winter of our fantasy managers discontent lingers on; much like the folks over at Sporting Life and the brilliant chaps over at the Guardian we thought we would update you on the state of play as to the likelihood of games going ahead.
As can be seen games from the Championship level down have already been majorly hit, and some more may be set to join them. However not all these clubs have the luxury of under-soil heating or the infrastructure to help combat the effects of the weather outside stadia, as well as inside. The rundown (with links provided) so far is as follows…
Read more...Stoke Realign Manchester City Tie
These replotted fixtures are coming in thick and fast, just like the snow that preceded it. Yesterday evening Stoke City announced that, after having their GW23 slate wiped clean to allow the Manchester sides to finish up their Carling Cup semi-finals, their game hosting Manchester City will now take place on Tuesday 16th or Wednesday 17th Feburary.
The snow has been a ramshackle cause of endless trouble and fears amongst all of us studious fantasy managers, but now once again, we have but another double gameweek set to take place in the not too distant future…
Read more...Double Trouble At Old Trafford – United vs Hull Rescheduled
Manchester United have this evening confirmed that their recently postponed home time with Hull has now been rescheduled to be played on Saturday January 23rd, when most other teams have FA Cup fixtures.
Manchester United and Hull now look most likely set to have a double gameweek on the cards for gameweek 22 (or at worst, no missing fixture in gameweek 23). Not much time to get your planning hats on, but possibly a great advantage over our less eagle eyed opponents were it to happen. Perhaps this may even help us get over our recent snown blown double gameweek disappointments….
Read more...Rovers Confirm Carling Date
While we continue to lick our double gameweek wounds, here’s some good news to add a little cheer to the frosty evening. Blackburn Rovers have confirmed that their Carling Cup Semi-Final first leg against Aston Villa has now been rescheduled for Thursday January 14th. To make this possible Blackburn’s fixture in gameweek 22 when they host Fulham, has been pushed back a day from the Saturday to Sunday January 17th but that makes little difference to us fantasy managers.
What does matter is that we can now breath a huge collective sigh of relief because unlike Manchester City and United, both Blackburn and Villa (and their opponents Wigan and Arsenal respectively) will be available to play their gameweek 23 fixtures…
Read more...Snow 1-0 Double Gameweek – Arsenal vs Bolton Postponed
The title pretty much explains it all. Arsenals second fixture of the gameweek hosting Bolton Wanderers, due to take place this evening, has been postponed due the adverse weather conditions currently affecting London.
Unfortunately many double gameweek dreams will now be crushed, and I amongst thousands upon thousands of managers will now regret having had Andrei Arshavin as their captain this week. But really, who was to know this was to have happened? We must dust the snow off, and now move onto the games ahead.
Arsenal will announce a revised fixture date in due course, and we will be the first to let you know when this game rejoins the fixture schedule – almost definitely with another double gameweek down the line being on table.
Read more...Carling Postponements – The Plot (Snow) Thickens
Following on from Andy’s earlier post regarding the mayhem caused by the Carling Cup postponements, there’s been a further development with the Villa vs Blackburn tie which appears to offer us fantasy managers some respite.
Villa have unofficially announced Thursday January 14th as the new date for the first leg of their Carling Cup semi with Rovers, leaving the second leg to fall on January 20th. If this is confirmed then Villa and Blackburn will play out their fixtures in gameweek 23. They face Arsenal and Wigan respectively, making all four teams safe for the gameweek.
This would obviously be great news if confirmed, however, while Villa have been quick to nominate next Thursday as the date for the first leg, Rovers have not mentioned this date and are set to offer confirmation tomorrow morning. With a trip to City on Monday, Rovers will face three matches in six days if this date is firmed up. Hardly the news that Big Sam needs after his recent condition.
What’s rather puzzling is that, while Blackburn are apparently being asked to play their first leg on the 14th, Man City have confirmed January 19th as the date of their first leg with United, saving them from the same three games in six days fixture pile-up. As a result, for now we still only have four teams set to sit out gameweek 23 – City, United, Hull and Stoke.
Read more...Carling Cup Games Postponed… Premier League Schedule Hit
Brrrrr it’s awfully chilly out. So chilly outside in fact that all Carling Cup games scheduled for this midweek have since been postponed.
Blackburn were due to host Aston Villa in the Carling Cup tonight – that game has been called off. And tomorrow Manchester United were going to make the short trip across town to face their rivals City – that is now also off…
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